Soldado has failed to impress at White Hart Lane since signing in a deal worth up to £26m from Valencia last summer, scoring only six Premier League goals.

The striker is understood to be keen to return to Spain after his miserable season, with sources suggesting he is willing to take a pay-cut to secure the move.

Atletico are on the look-out for a new striker as they are set to lose their top scorer Costa to Chelsea for £32m. They tried to sign Soldado last year, but were outbid by Tottenham and ended up buying David Villa from Barcelona.

Significantly, the asking price will not be as high as expected as Spurs paid Valencia only £13m up front, with the rest of the fee depending on various targets. But such was Soldado’s minimal impact this term, he is available for around the £13m fee spent on his initial transfer.

A switch to the Spanish capital would appeal to him, having already played there for Getafe and Real Madrid.

Atletico are looking at other targets, however, including Chelsea duo Romelu Lukaku and Fernando Torres, as well as Porto star Jackson Martinez, Sevilla’s Carlos Bacca and Manchester City’s Alvaro Negredo.

Pochettino, who signed a five-year contract to take charge at White Hart Lane earlier this week, will be handed up to £50m to spend.

He is expected to raise more funds by selling some of the fringe members of the squad and Soldado’s departure would provide significant revenue.

The need to improve the striking options is one of his main priorities and the club have already made an offer for Queens Park Rangers' Loic Remy, who was on loan at Newcastle this season.

Remy is available for £8m, although has made it clear his preference is to join a club in the Champions League.

Soldado’s departure would leave Emmanuel Adebayor and Harry Kane as the only first-team strikers.

Pochettino has already been linked with some of his former players at Southampton, including Adam Lallana, but a bid for England international Jay Rodriguez is more likely.

The 24-year-old fits chairman Daniel Levy’s preferred profile of being young and English. He scored 17 goals this season and was in contention to be part of the World Cup squad before sustaining a serious knee ligament injury.